A National Broadband Plan was mandated by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act a year ago. After an open consultation process, the Executive Summary of the Plan was released today. The full Plan will be released tomorrow. Some of the Plan’s recommendations will be implemented by the FCC, while others require government legislation or executive orders from various levels of government.
The broad goals of the Plan over the next decade include
- Connect 100 million households to affordable 100-megabits-per-second service
- Provide affordable access in every American community to ultra-high-speed broadband of at least 1 gigabit per second at institutions such as schools, hospitals, and military installations
- Open 500 megahertz of spectrum for licensed and unlicensed wireless broadband use
- Move the US broadband adoption rate from 65 percent to more than 90 per cent
- Make affordable broadband available to rural communities, schools, libraries, and vulnerable populations by transitioning existing Universal Service Fund support from voice to IP
- Ensure greater transparency, fewer barriers to entry, and market-based analysis with quality data on price, speed, and availability ( the FCC has introduced an application for testing broadband bandwidth )
- Provide every first responder with access to a nationwide, wireless, interoperable public safety network.
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